The Imperial Quarter or Dzielnica Cesarska, the youngest of the historic quarters of Poznań, was built after the removal of the fortress embankments at the exit of the main arterial road of the city centre – ul. Święty Marcin – Saint Martin’s. Its central point is the Zamek Cesarski – Imperial Palace, built over 100 years ago for the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II. Over the years the destiny of the Palace changed. In the interwar period university lectures took place in the palace halls, during World War II the building was adapted to serve as Hitler’s residence, and since the 1960s it has served as a cultural centre – currently the largest in Wielkopolska. Inside CK Zamek – the Palace there is the Palace Cinema, a modern concert hall, exhibition halls, library, bookshop, coffee bar, educational halls and space for those visiting the historic rooms of the Palace.
At the beginning of the in the XX century, in the vicinity of the Palace, a group of prestigious buildings were erected: the City Theatre – the contemporary S. Moniuszko – Great Theatre playing an operatic repertoire, the Royal Academy – Akademii Królewskiej – today the Vice Chancellor’s office at UAM (Collegium Minus), and also the Colonisation Commission, in which Poles were deprived of their property for the benefit of German settlers, which today is the Vice Chancellor’s office of the University of Medicine, and the Department of Polish Philology of UAM (Collegium Maius), plus the Post Office – formerly German today Polish.
The centre of the quarter is Mickiewicz Square with a statue of the poet, but the attention of most tourists is attracted by the adjacent monument of Poznańskiego Czerwca 1956. The monument commemorates the first mass anti-Communist protest in Poland. The basement of the Palace is open to visitors to the new interactive Museum dedicated to the events of 28 June 1956.
From the west to quarter is enclosed by a semicircular line of parks, which replaced the XIX century fortifications of Fortress Poznań. In succeeding years to the south of the Imperial Quarter, an informal University Quarter developed composed of the buildings of the Academy of Music, the University of Economics and also UAM.